Tiny Dancer
by Hatake Kai
Summary: Fem!Tony, Stony. Antoinette 'Toni' Stark is the media's favourite target. Be it a charitable event, news on SI, or someone coming out with some new scandal. Who would think that this Billionaire, Socialiate, Genius, Philanthropist is Iron Man? Certainly not a certain Super Soldier. Secret Identity! Iron Man. Hawkeye will be around alot, Clintasha. Story better than summary
1. Prologue

Toni is working on a new rocket design; classic rock music blaring as she lies on the table fingers moving through the Halo display. She is running a calculation on how fast she can make the rocket when JARVIS's voice is heard and the music stops.

"_Miss. Stark, your visitor has arrived."_

Toni sat up, "Thanks JARVIS. Save this for later, filename: JERICHO."

_"Yes ma'am. Should I sent Mr. Potts down, or will you meet him upstairs?"_

Toni looked down at her clothing, which was a pair of drawstring grey sweats and a grease splattered tank top. "I'll meet him upstairs. How long have I been here?"

"_2 days, ma'am. You came down after Obadiah came to tell you that Mr. Potts will be here." _

Toni grimaced, taking a water bottle from the fridge in the lab. "Thanks JARVIS. Make sure our guest is taken care of, I'm gonna get this grease off of me. Also, pull up the live feed from the room he's in onto my tablet; and send me his file."

"_It will be there in a moment."_

Toni picked up her tablet, taking the backstairs to her room. She pulled up the video feed, looking at the man that was to become her new P.A.

Mr. Potts, Virgil Toni read on his file, sat in a chair in the front room. He had a briefcase by his feet; looked slightly nervous a DUM E bot brought him a bottle of water. He looked tall; Toni could see that his legs were stretched out as he was left in the room. His face was very freckled, that with his red hair made him look young, though a quick look at his file showed that he was 32.

Toni changed into a Pink Floyd concert shirt before pulling up the rest of Virgil's file. He was part of the accounting part of the company, but had worked in PR when he first started at the company. College educated with a Bachelor's in accounting. Not married, father died three years ago, mother in a retirement home Spokane. Been with the company for 12 years, knows most of the inner workings which was Obadiah's main reason for suggesting him to the position.

Toni came down the main stairs, entering the room. "Hello." She said, announcing her presence. She almost laughed as Virgil jumped up, having obviously been lost in thought.

"Hello, Miss. Stark." He said, going over to shake Toni's hand.

"Just Toni please, Miss Stark makes me feel like I'm back at school." Toni said with a smile, shaking Virgil's hand.

Virgil nodded, "It's nice to meet you Mi-Toni." He said, correcting himself quickly.

Toni smiled, "It's nice to meet you as well Virgil." _Who would name their child something like Virgil in this day and age? _Toni thought to herself as they went back to the chairs. _If he's gonna be my P.A. I really need to think of something else to call him._

Toni looked at the man's face as they talked, Toni having already heard why everything that she needed to know about him from Obadiah and his file. She began to notice how the freckles seemed to be peppered across his face, like someone had laid him down and started shaking pepper on his face.

"Pepper." She suddenly said, surprising the other man.

"Excuse me?"

"Pepper, that's what I'm going to call you. Virgil is too old-fashioned and your freckles look like a bunch of pepper was poured on it." Toni said with a smile. Virgil looked so confused, making Toni laughed, "I give most people nicknames. My chauffeur I call Happy."

Virgil, now Pepper, nodded. "I see, well if it works for you ma'am."

Toni nodded, "Well, I'm working today in my lab. You can start on Monday, I'll have JARVIS send you my schedule and a list of things I'll need you to do." She stood up and Pepper followed suit. "It was nice to meet you; I hope that you enjoy your new position."

Pepper nodded, shaking hands with Toni. "A pleasure to meet you as well Toni."

Pepper soon left and Toni went back to her work. Who would think that in less than a year, she would be held prisoner by a group of Terrorist and become a superhero.

* * *

Hello, well this is my first Avengers piece of Fan fiction. I've had this idea for a longtime, but am just now getting to writing it out. Basically this is going to be a Fem!Tony Stony story. After this will be a time skip to the part in the Avengers movie after Toni saved the city from the nuke, and follow the storyline set by those three movies (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and The Avengers) but no one knows that Toni is Iron Man (and no, I will not be changing that name.) and they think it is just a bodyguard Toni hired after the Afghanistan stuff. I changed Pepper's gender as well, but his role will be less romantic and more platonic and brother like towards Toni. I may write him with Happy, to kinda take a nod at the comics but not sure about that at this time.

Well, I hope you like this :) Please Review :D

Also the title will make sense soon (I hope) but yeah, it's from the Elton John song of the same title.

here is a time line for the aging.

1943: Howard Stark 23

1980: Howard Stark 60, Toni is born

2007: Toni Stark 26 (Prologue)

2011: Toni 30 (Actual story takes place)


	2. Chapter 1

Toni knew she wasn't going to make it. There was no way. JARVIS was gone, the suit was down. It was so quiet, she hated the quiet. Her chest hurt, she could feel herself slipping into the darkness. If only Pepper had picked up, she wished that one person who knew who she was would have said goodbye to her. She needed to hear someone say good-bye to her, not the suit.

The only consolation she could feel was that now was that they would have to eat the words they said about her. No, she wasn't selfish, eccentric yes, but never selfish. And who cared if she liked to sleep around, hell it was fun and no one was hurt. Truthfully, she gave way more than she took.

She was awake long enough to know she fell back through before she blacked out.

* * *

Captain America saw Iron man fall. He was completely hopeless. "_He's not slowing down." _He heard Thor say as the sound of his spinning hammer whirled beside him. He couldn't fly. He was useless right now. Unable to help his teammates, more useless than when he loss Bucky.

He was beyond relieved when Hulk got him and brought him down. Steve ran towards the body, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw who was behind the iron mask. Toni Stark.

He took a step forward, hand shaking slightly. It wasn't that he didn't believe that women could fight; Peggy and Natasha had convinced him that they could. But this person, this woman, he never thought that she'd fight on the behalf of others, let alone sacrifice herself.

The light on her chest was fading, he had no clue what that meant. But her face was pallid, the suit blocking him from seeing if she was breathing.

Suddenly, Hulk roared and that woke Toni. She looked around, breathing deeply. "What the hell? No one kissed me, right?" She looked at Steve and Thor, he face a picture of panic, "Oh, shit. What happened to my face plate?"

Thor picked up the face plate and handed it to Toni. "I am sorry, Lady Toni. I knew of no other way to remove it."

Steve could see the disturbed look on Toni's face as she looked at the face covering. It was dented and Steve even knew it was no going to be able to be put back in place.

Tony looked at the others, sitting up. "Well, we can't just sit here and gawk, don't we need to find the Jolly Green Reindeer?" Everyone looked at her like she was crazy and she sighed, saying "Loki. Last time I saw him, he was in my tower."

Toni tries to get up and Steve goes to help her. There seems to be something wrong with the suit because Toni's movements are stiff and not at all like the humanlike movements that he was used to when Iron Man moved. No one says anything and they see a helicopter coming down. Fury steps out.

"Good job team." He says, voice sounding tired but there is a positive emotion in his words. "Barton and Romanov have Loki in Stark Tower, I'm here arrest him and bring you back to base."

They all nod and get into the helicopter.

* * *

_"No word of yet on what happened in the end of the battle; but reports and videos are coming in of Toni Stark's bodyguard, dubbed Iron Man, was seen flying into the hole in the sky right before the fighting stopped. Here is some amateur video capturing the Hulk catching the armored hero."_

Toni feels groggy as she wakes up. She hears sounds, beeps and what sounds like air being pumped. She feels like her body is made of lead as she tries to rub her face. There is a tug in her left arm and she opens her eyes to see an IV sticking out. "The fuck am I?" She says, sitting up. "And why does my face hurt?"

"Your suit was messed up and you fell flat on your face, Toni." A voice says from Toni's right, which Toni knows is Pepper's. "You're lucky it wasn't worst, that looks like it would have hurt."

Toni wonders what he is taking about when she turns to look at the TV and sees herself being caught by the Hulk, the big green monster slamming into a building. She flinched. "The suit? Please tell me that they didn't rip it off me like Thor did the face plate?"

"No, they got it off you with the right way." Pepper chuckled, standing up. "I think you scared Captain America. The look on his face is rather priceless. Barton is having a field day."

Toni knew she wasn't going to make it. There was no way. JARVIS was gone, the suit was down. It was so quiet, she hated the quiet. Her chest hurt, she could feel herself slipping into the darkness. If only Pepper had picked up, she wished that one person who knew who she was would have said goodbye to her. She needed to hear someone say good-bye to her, not the suit.

The only consolation she could feel was that now was that they would have to eat the words they said about her. No, she wasn't selfish, eccentric yes, but never selfish. And who cared if she liked to sleep around, hell it was fun and no one was hurt. Truthfully, she gave way more than she took.

She was awake long enough to know she fell back through before she blacked out.

* * *

_"No word of yet on what happened in the end of the battle; but reports and videos are coming in of Toni Stark's bodyguard, dubbed Iron Man, was seen flying into the hole in the sky right before the fighting stopped. Here is some amateur video capturing the Hulk catching the armored hero."_

Toni feels groggy as she wakes up. She hears sounds, beeps and what sounds like air being pumped. She feels like her body is made of lead as she tries to rub her face. There is a tug in her left arm and she opens her eyes to see an IV sticking out. "The fuck am I?" She says, sitting up. "And why does my face hurt?"

"Your suit was messed up and you fell flat on your face, Toni." A voice says from Toni's right, which Toni knows is Pepper's. "You're lucky it wasn't worst, that looks like it would have hurt."

Toni wonders what he is taking about when she turns to look at the TV and sees herself being caught by the Hulk, the big green monster slamming into a building. She flinched. "The suit? Please tell me that they didn't rip it off me like Thor did the face plate?"

"No, they got it off you with the right way." Pepper chuckled, standing up. "I think you scared Captain America. The look on his face is rather priceless. Barton is having a field day."

Toni groaned, "That's great." She looked at the IV and pulled it out.

"Toni! You have to leave that in." Pepper said, a look of alarm on his face.

"Calm down Pep." Toni said, her right hand pressing a blanket where the catheter had been to stop the bleeding. "If they wanted me to keep it in the doctor would have never left me alone."

Pepper shook his head. "You aren't alone Toni. I was in here to wait till you woke up. I paged the moment you started to talk in your sleep."

"I don't talk in my sleep Pep." Toni said, moving the blanket away from her arm as the bleeding seemed to stop.

"Yes, you were. Just a bunch of words, but I distinctly heard the words, 'Jolly Green god'." Pepper said as a S.H.I.E.L.D. nurse walked in.

"How are you feeling Ms. Stark? That was quite fall you took." The blonde said, looking at Toni before turning to Pepper. "You shouldn't have let her take the IV out."

Pepper shrugged, "There was nothing I could have done. Once she thinks of something, it takes an act of God to stop."

"I'm right here." Toni said crossing her arms. "And I have a question, how long am I stuck here?"

The nurse looked at Toni and shrugged, "As soon as the doctor can see you. Not sure when that will be though. He's still seeing people from this morning's attack."

"Well, I'm leaving right now." Toni said, standing up. She was a bit unsteady, but righted up in a few seconds. "You can tell Fury that I'm all right. I just need to get out of here."

Toni walked out of the room, ignoring the protest of the nurse and Pepper.


	3. Chapter 2

Steve had just left the conference room, heading back to the room that he had on the Helicarrier. He looked up when he heard a commotion heading his way. He almost did a double take as she saw Toni walking towards him, well his direction being that he was still close to conference room door. She looked annoyed, nothing like he'd seen before. She was barefoot, her short black hair ruffled and in the black pants and long-sleeved shirt that she had worn under her suit. The blue light emitting from her chest was weird, but now that he knew she was in the suit didn't seem out-of-place.

A red-haired man was following after her, his gait fast but hindered by the suit that he was wearing. "Toni, come on. Just get back to the room. You can talk to Fury later."

"No, Pepper. I'm talking to him now. How could he let that nuke get out?" Toni said, not stopping as he got closer.

The man, Pepper as Toni had addressed him, got closer but still out of reach of catching Toni. "I'm sure there's a reason Toni. Come back, they're not sure how badly hurt you are. Just let the doctor see you and I'm sure Coulson will let you know what happened."

Toni stopped, turning quickly around. "Coulson is dead Pep." She said, voice hard and Steven was sure that her face had some emotion on it.

"What?" Pepper said, finally catching up with Toni. "When?"

"Before the New York battle." Toni said, turning back and walking towards the conference room. Pepper was right behind as she walked, face full of emotions.

They soon made it to where Steve stood, Toni looking him in the eyes. "Is he is there Rogers?" She asked.

Steve shook his head. "No, he left a few minutes ago."

Toni groaned in frustration, "Well, do you know where he went?"

Steve shook his head, "No, I do not. Aren't you supposed to be in the infirmary?" That was where they said she was taken to when they arrived, still unconscious from her fall.

"Christ, not you too." Toni said, looking accusingly at the two men around her. "I'm fine. I'm walking ain't I? All I need to do is get back to the tower and have JARVIS check me out. I've had worst, you know that." She said the last part looking at Pepper.

Pepper made a face, "I know Toni, but please, just come back."

Toni looked at Pepper, "No, Pepper I won't. And will you please just stop." She paused and then said, "You can just stop now. You didn't even pick up the fucking phone! You don't have to follow me around anymore, that's not you're job now."

Pepper face turned to shock as Toni started sprinting away, pushing pass some Agents that were walking towards them.

* * *

Toni ran until her side started to hurt, hiding in a doorway as footsteps were coming her way. She couldn't deal with this now, she knew she was hurt. Her side was killing her and she just wanted to get back to the tower.

Taking deep breaths, she felt tears prickled at her eyes. _Great all I need now is to start crying. _She held her breath as she heard footsteps heading her way. Soon she was face to face with Steve, his face showing some true concern.

"Toni, come on back." He said, "Just let them make sure you haven't broken anything."

Toni shook her head, "No, I won't let them get any information. Fury already knows much more than I want him to about the Arc reactor."

Steve looked at her confused, "The what?"

Toni laughed, the sound rough and near hysterical. "This," she tapped the center of her chest where the blue light was. "It's made from technology my father got from the Tasseract. I'm not going to let Fury and his goons turn it into a weapon."

Steve looked even more confused, head tilting in a way that was almost cute if Toni wasn't so frantic to get out of here. "You see why I don't want to let one of his doctors see me?" Toni continued, "If I can get back to the tower, I can get checked out on my own."

Steve nodded, "Well, you should stop running away. If something is wrong then I'm sure sprinting is going to help."

"I know, I'm a genius after all." She took a step forward, patting his shoulder. "And you win. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the room they gave me."

Steve seemed to look like he was skeptical about this, but Toni cut him off from saying anything. "I can get there myself. Go find Pepper and let tell him where I will be." She knew what she said probably hurt him. She seemed to be saying a lot of things that hurt people close to her lately.

She started walking down the corridor, half expecting to be escorted to her door. Thinking about that almost made her laugh.

* * *

Steve let Toni go, knowing that there wasn't much he could do. He started back to where Pepper said he would look and found him rather quickly. "I found her; she said she was going to her room."

Pepper nodded, the suited man looking both glad but still distressed. "I can't believe I missed her call. I was watching the news; I saw her fly into that, that thing. My phone was right there." He shook his head, "What if she hadn't survived."

Steve wondered what the other man's relationship was with Toni. He remembered something in a file he was given about the inventor that Pepper was once her personal assistant and was now in charge of the company that Howard had left Toni. "Well, she survived. That's the best thing. It's not like she can be upset forever."

"You obviously don't know Toni. She doesn't forget anything." Pepper said, running a hand through his hair. "She hardly trusts anyone, last thing I need is for her to doubt me."

Steve put his arm on Pepper's shoulder, looking the only slightly shorter man in the eyes. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

Pepper nodded, "Yeah, probably. I should go and find someone to get us back to the tower. I'll feel better when we know how badly she's hurt."

Steve nodded, "I'll let you go then. It was nice to meet you."

Pepper nodded and said farewell, walking towards where he was told earlier that Toni's room was.

* * *

Well, what you think? Let me know :D, it's like receiving a bowl of Fruity Pebbles each time I see a new follow/favorite/review. And I really like Fruity Pebbles :D


	4. Chapter 3

_Hello, sorry this was so late. No excuses, just life. I also want to thank everyone who has liked/followed/reviewed this story. This is by far my most popular ever with over 50 follows :D_

_And you know how I said the thing about the Fruity Pebbles last time, well it turned out the next morning my mommy had brought some home :D so I got my Fruity Pebbles as I read the first review for that chapter :D_

_So this week, I'll say I want a mountain of Reese's Peanut Butter cups for each review. Maybe that'll come true too :D_

_And obvious I don't own the Avengers or the other characters in this story (Unless I do, but honestly you can never really know that.) So please review and I love all of you beautiful readers. _

* * *

_You are formally invited to the first Stark/Avenger's Charity Ball. _

_Ms. Antoinette Stark invites you to a charity ball to help raise money to help in the rebuilding of New York City following the alien attack. Though none of the Avengers are set to appear, there is to be a video message from the heroes; which is to also serve as an official public introduction of the team to the world..._

'_Blah, blah, blah. More bureaucracy to deal with...' _Toni rubbed her head as she put down the invitation sample she had kept from when they had been sent out two weeks previously. She had hardly realised that all that time had passed, spending more and more time in the lab. She would have even forgotten about needing to leave Malibu if Happy hadn't had reminded her. She was a wreck, she knew; hell even DUM-E knew it.

"JARVIS, how long do I have till Happy gets here so we can get to the airport?" She asked the AI butler, standing up.

_"45 minutes, ma'am."_ the British butler voice responded.

"All right, make sure the suit is secure by then." Toni said before asking, "Have all the Avengers responded to the invitation? Well, all but Thor since I don't think mail reaches there yet."

"_Yes, Dr. Banner sent his confirmation reply today." There was a pause before JARVIS said, "Though he did put a side note saying that he did not know how this would affect his temperamental control."_

"He's just doesn't want to go." Toni said with a smile. Though she had left the other scientist in New York to work on some Stark business in California; she really liked his company. There weren't many people who could keep up with her on the best of days. Even Bruce had trouble when things got too technical. "How has he been? No Hulk outs or close calls?"

"_No, ma'am. He seems to be isolating himself on the floor that he gave him. Only visitors seem to be SHIELD agents and Captain Rogers."_

Tony nodded, setting the protocols on the lab for while she was gone. "And how is the city rebuilding going?" She had locked herself away the last few weeks, the last time she had even turned on a television was when she first arrived in Malibu three weeks earlier.

"_As well as expected. The damage was rather extensive, so things are going slowly."_

Finished locking the lab, "Thanks J." There was the sound of the door opening and Toni came up to see Happy standing in the sitting room. "You're early." She said.

Happy nodded, "Can't have you late. The schedule's too tight for anything to be changed."

"Don't trust me, do you Happy?" Toni pouted playfully. "Honestly I don't get why I have to even use the jet. The suit takes half the time."

"_Mr. Hogan, there is a crate that will need to be transported with Ms. Stark's things. It will be in the front in a few minutes." _JARVIS said, as there was a moment of silence.

"See, the suit is in a crate." Toni said, protesting.

"Toni," Happy began, "Hair and make-up will be on the flight. And Pepper said you need to sleep on the flight. When was the last time you even slept?"

_"Ms. Stark has not slept for 72 hours. The last food she ate was left over pizza and a toaster waffle at about 7 this morning and she's had 6 cups of black coffee since 4 this morning."_

"Toni! You need to take care of yourself." Happy scolded, walking closer.

Toni scowled at the ceiling, "Traitor." She said before looking at Happy, "I'm fine, honestly. Da Vinci only slept like an hour a day."

Happy ran his hand down his face and sighed, "Well, let's get going and we'll get a burger before we get to the airport. But you will sleep; the pilot and crew know this so there is no getting away with anything."

Toni groaned, "This is horrible, Happy. I got rid of my nanny when I was 14; I don't need one now."

Happy didn't say anything, but went to the front where the crate (more of a heavily reinforced foot locker) that held the Iron Man suit was waiting. From there he got the car loaded and left with Toni towards the airport.

Toni got off the plane about six hours later, trying not to rub her face as the evening sun hit her eyes. She had actually slept for a bit while a team of people worked on her hair during the flight; nothing very fancy was added, but the short black hair was curled and pinned in a rather becoming state. She was quickly ushered into an awaiting car and driven to Stark Tower.

The buildings on the way were still battle-scarred, but the construction crews were doing a good job. She made it to the tower more quickly than she thought; one of the only upsides that the damage to the city brought since less people were out in the city.

Walking into the towers penthouse, she was immediately greeted by JARVIS's voice. "_Well back Ms. Stark. Your dress has been delivered and is in the bedroom."_

Toni nodded, "Thanks J." She said, heading in the direction where the bedrooms are. "Happy should be up in a moment. Can you make sure it's in working order?"

_"Of course, ma'am."_

* * *

Steve sat in his seat, messing with his tie. He felt more out-of-place here, in a ballroom full of people who had more money than probably the country than he felt in that week of basic training. The only comfort he took was that he wasn't the only one at the table to be uncomfortable. Dr. Banner was staring around the room and checking his watch every other second. Agent Barton was playing with his glass, looking at the bottom for some reason. The only one who was sitting still was Agent Romanov.

"Will you put that down, Clint?" She said, taking the champagne glass from the other SHIELD agent as she spoke.

Clint set his hands in his lap, looking over at the women beside him. "Why in the world are we even here, Nat?" He looked at her, pausing as he seemed to do anything time her looked at the auburn haired agent.

Agent Romanov was dressed beautifully, in a backless black gown. "We're the SHIELD representatives here; you know that."

"You mean we're here because Fury wants to make sure that Stark doesn't let anything slip, don't you?" Barton replied, picking up a fork. "Do you think this is real silver?"

"Yes." Romanov replied, looking over at Banner for a second before looking back at Barton. "Will you stop that? Just sit still, you're going to make people think we're party crashers."

Barton was about to make, what Steve was sure from his other encounters with the archer, a smartass reply when a voice came from the center of the room. "Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen. Sorry for the delay, but traffic was terrible." A voice he immediately knew belonged to Toni Stark. There was a group laugh from the others in attendance and Toni continued. "I'm happy to welcome you to the first ever Stark/ Avengers Charity Ball. Now, I know many have speculated on what this evening would be, and I'm here to say what this evening is about.

"As you know, less than a month ago, there was an extraterrestrial attack on this amazing city that was stopped by a team of quote unquote Superheroes. And obviously, one of these heroes was my bodyguard Iron Man."

Steve looked away from Toni as he heard Barton say to Romanov, "A bit full of herself, ain't she." This earned a small smile from Romanov.

"And the others, which have been confirmed by a press release I personally over saw, have been named as a team called the Avengers." There was a screen dropping behind Toni as she spoke next. "The members of this team are completely unaffiliated with me or Stark Industries; but tonight I have been given permission from them to introduce you to them. The first member is the leader." A picture showed up on the screen of Captain America, an American flag waving behind him. "This is Captain America. Yes, he seems to be the exact same one of WWII fame that disappeared just before VE-Day. I am personally unsure on how this is possible, but it seems that this American Golden Boy is back." There was a roar of applause from the other guest and the Avengers' table clapped with them.

Toni waited for the crowd to quiet before continuing. The screen changed and a duo picture of Black Widow and Hawkeye were shown. The picture was shot in such a way that neither of their faces was completely visible. "This two are Black Widow and Hawkeye. Both of whom could easily put any movie spy to shame. Widow is a master assassin; and as camera footage from the attack showed, very capable." There was some more clapping and a few cat calls, and Barton looked at Romanov with a comical grin. "Hawkeye wasn't seen as much, but he is a master marksman."

"That's it?" Barton complained silently, "I took out probably as many of the Chitauri as the rest of you."

Romanov looked at Barton, "Just hush, you can complain to her later."

The screen changed again, a photo of the Hulk on the side of a building smashing together two of the Chitauri and their flying crafts were on the screen. There was an audibly sound of surprise from the crowd and Banner looked away as Toni started again. "We call him the Hulk. Don't let his size or past get to you, because this is a hero. He saved Iron Man after his trip into the wormhole which stopped the Alien attack. I know many of you know what happened a few years back when he was seen in Harlem; but trust me when I say that the media was completely unfair to him." The screen changed again, showing Thor. "And, last but certainly not least is this man. This is Thor, and yes I mean like the Nordic god of Thunder. I can't say much about him but that he was a great help and that his hammer packs a mean punch." There was some laughter and applause as the screen went back up and the lights illuminated the back part of the room, showing a dance floor and tables laden with objects.

"Now to the main part of this evening. This is in fact a charity ball, which means that all the items behind me are part of a silent auction. There is a large range of items, from new Stark electronics that aren't set to hit the market for another few months to Broadway tickets and dinners for two to many of the world's top restaurants." There was a pause before Toni said, "And I'm sure many of you want me to shut up so you can get the night started; so let me end with this. Remember why we are here tonight and I'm glad to announce that I have confirmation from the CEO of Stark Industries and its board of trustees that all the money raised here tonight will be matched." Toni gave a slight bowed and said, "With this I leave you to your evening and hope you have a good night."

There was applause as Toni left the front of the ball room. "She really wasn't that bad." Barton commented, "Though I still don't like that she said so little of me."

Romanov shook her head, visibly deciding not to say anything to that comment.

* * *

**_Sorry for the delay in this chapter but it seemed that I just couldn't find the time to write and when I did, I seemed to lose what I had written. Hopefully the next chapter is here next week (that is if the Arrow and Supernatural Season finales don't kill me Wednesday). Hope you like it, I'll have some cute Fluffy ness next chapter and maybe some dancing and definitely some fondue :D _**


	5. Chapter 4

Toni got out to where the tables were, immediately hunting down a waiter carrying a tray with flute glasses full of champagne before heading towards the other Avengers. The group of heroes was sitting at the table, the only one not totally out-of-place was Natasha. Hawkeye, Clint she reminded herself, was looking at a fork like he was trying to think of a way to get out of this situation. Steve was sitting rod iron straight, looking at the people dancing; and Bruce was looking like he wanted to bolt.

Honestly, this wasn't what Toni wanted. Of course, seeing the slight awkwardness of these heroes was entertaining; but this wasn't her initial thoughts when she started to plan this event. After telling Fury to fuck off when he told her that from what she saw of the two SHIELD agents, they both needed a pick me up after the battle and the other two were becoming shut-ins.

Toni made it to the table, setting her glass down. "This is a party, not a 'let's sit around and totally insult the host' evening." She smiled, sitting between Bruce and Steve. Toni smiled as she saw Natasha roll her eyes. "See, even Miss Russian Super Spy thinks you three are ridiculous."

There was silence at table for a moment, Toni not letting it last for too long though. "All right, since this doesn't seem like it will fix itself; this is what you will do. Natalie and Legolas will go and do something. Dance or get something at the bar, just stand up and leave. Now, Big Green and Capsicle you have a choice. One you will come and dance with me; the other can go look around and you know be social."

Natasha got Clint to stand up, Toni hearing of whisper of the red-haired woman saying something about alcohol. Toni turned looked around, smiling at the two with a shit eating grin. "So, what now. Can't leave a girl hanging now." The blush that crept over Steve's face was near hilarious.

* * *

Steve couldn't help the blush that came over his face. There was a bit of laughter in Toni's eyes as a waitress came over. "Would you like a drink?" The blonde asked with a smile.

Toni shook her head, before saying. "What's your name?" The tone was so like what he had heard many times from Howard when he wasn't working. Flirtatious and soft. Looking over at the black-haired woman, Steve saw that her eyes were looking at the woman in what Steve could only say was recognition.

"Sharon." The blonde said, looking at Toni.

Toni nodded, "Well, Sharon. Could you do me a favor? My friend here," Steve saw her motioning in his direction, "is a bit shy and I can't be with him at the moment. Can you spend some time with him while I make some rounds?"

The blonde smiled, "Of course, Ms. Stark." She looked at Steve, who was trying not to blush even more. "It'll be my pleasure, mister..."

"Steve." Steve said, "Just call me Steve. It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Sharon." He looked at Toni would was smiling.

"Well, now that's taken care of, Bruce come with me." Toni stood up, hand on Bruce's elbow as he stood with her.

The two Avengers left, leaving Steve with Sharon. "Come with me Steve. Why don't we take a look at the items for auction?"

Steve nodded, standing up and followed after the female, heading towards an area of the room where few people stood. Steve pretended to be interested in a device he knew to be a tablet. After a few minutes, Sharon spoke. "How do you know Ms. Stark? She doesn't normally take that much interest in guests."

"My grandfather knew Howard. I don't know Toni too well, we've only recently met." Steve said, telling the story that SHIELD had told him to say if anyone asked the question. He looked up and at Sharon. She was rather pretty; the funny thing was, she reminded him very much of Peggy. She stood very much in the same manner she did, and her hair was done in way he had seen it one time when she was off duty. He found himself smiling as he thought of the agent.

He shook his head, reminding himself that this woman was not Peggy. Peggy wasn't dead, but from her file, he knew she had grown rather old in the almost 70 years he had been in the ice; and in a retirement home somewhere in tech city. He couldn't bring himself to visit her, knowing that from his prospective it had been less than a few months since he last heard her voice. He still remembered everyone; most of his team dead and gone.

"Do you need anything, Steve?" Sharon asked, smiling back at the soldier.

Steve blushed, running his hand through his hair. "No, sorry, you just reminded me of someone I knew a long time ago."

Sharon nodded, "I see. Did you know her well?" There was something in Sharon's way of asking that Steve found intrigued.

"No, not really." Steve found himself saying before he realised how true it was. He didn't know much of Peggy's life outside of the war. "We worked together for a few years. She was a really great woman."

"She must have been special." Sharon said in a nonchalant manner.

It looked like she was going to say something else, but they were interrupted by Toni. "Find anything you like, Spangles." Toni said, making Steve jump by how close she was; particularly since he could normally tell when someone near him.

Toni chuckled as Steve turned around, "Not really." He said honestly.

"Well, we'll find something you'd like a little later." Toni smiled, turning towards Sharon, "Thank you very much for staying with Steven here. I'll take him off your hands so you can get back to work."

Sharon nodded, "You're welcome Ms. Stark." She started to walk away, heading to a door Steve believed led to a kitchen.

"I swear one of these days I'll find a way to stop Fury from getting his agents hired on my staffs." Toni murmured.

Steve turned towards Toni, surprise written all over his face. "She was a SHIELD agent?"

Toni smiled, Steve noting mentally how her face lit up when she was truly amused. "Yep," the 'p' popping at the end of the word, "I recognised her from a database I gained access to back before the attack on the helicarrier."

Steve somehow fought the urge to mention that she got that information by stealing it. "That makes sense..." He said.

"Yeah. Well, come on then Spangles. The food table has something I want to show you." Toni started to walk off and Steve followed, heading towards a table that was surrounding what looked like a fountain of melted cheese.

"What is that?" Steve asked, eying the cheese as it fell like water.

"That, my friend, is a cheese fountain." Toni said a smarmy grin across her face. "You know, cheese and bread."

Steve felt his face grow red, knowing exactly why this was happening, "Howard..." He groaned.

"The old man talked about you a lot. Particularly when he was drunk or after a failed attempt to find you." Toni said, "Funny thing was, he focused on like three stories. Of course, that could because by the time I was born he was already losing his mind." There was no filter on Toni's tone; the malice towards her late father was pretty clear.

"And fondue was one of them?" Steve asked surprise almost as clear as Toni's malice towards Howard.

"Yep," Toni said, grabbing a long fork like thing before stabbing a piece of beard and putting it in the cheese. "I think you blew his mind with how naïve you were. I always liked that one." Toni took a bite of the beard, "You should try this. It's not like any of these stuffed peacocks will eat all this calories,"

Steve nodded; getting a fork-thing like the one Toni had and put a piece of beard under the cheese waterfall. "What were the other stories he told?"

Toni put the fork in a tray at the end of the table before replying, "When you and an SSR agent got him to fly you out into enemy airspace so you can save the captured 107th soldiers." Toni paused, "And when you went down. He'd have to be pretty drunk to tell that one; it was pretty rare to hear."

Steve nodded, "Howard was a smart man. Did he ever get that flying car to work?" He really wanted to change the subject. He'd found since he woke up that he hated to hear people talk about him. All the stories were second-hand accounts or something completely made up; you could have knocked him down with a feather when he found out the comics that were made, almost all of them fictional stories.

"Nope," Toni said, Steve wondering if she consciously popped the 'p's on her single word responses. "He helped with the atomic bomb right after you went down, and after that he stayed in the weapons game. Cold War and all that. You know what that was, right?"

Steve nodded; Natasha had helped him out with history after she came back from wherever she and Clint had gone to after New York. "Yes, I do." He tried not to sound angry or annoyed at the question that seemed to follow most thinks people have said to him lately.

Toni smiled, looking at the dance floor. "Come on, the photographers are out. I should get some pictures dancing so no rumors of me off with someone come out and Pepper gets pissed again."

Steve found himself being pulled away, going towards the dance floor where people were dancing rather closely. "Toni, wait. I don't know how to dance." He said, protesting.

Toni stopped, looking at Steve with a playful smile on her lips. "I know, Cap. This is just a waltz; don't step on my feet and you'll be just fine."

Steve nodded in a surrendering fashion and followed Toni.

* * *

"All, your right goes here." Toni said, putting Steve's hand on the middle of her back; his hand warm on her skin showing in the backless dress she wore. She put her right hand on his shoulder before taking his left hand with hers. "All right, now you just take a side step and then a step forward; then just repeat."

Toni watched Steve take the first step and then the next, "See, this isn't too hard. Just count 1, 2, 3 in your head and it's easy." Toni smiled, "Who knew all it took to stop you was to make you dance. Can't let any of the baddies know or we'd be having dance offs left and right."

Steve, who had been blushing since Toni told him to put his hand on her back, looked up from his feet. "That's not very funny Toni."

"Oh, Captain. It's actually rather hilarious." Toni chuckled.

* * *

**Well, that's it for this ball thingy majig... Lol, this took a lot longer than I thought to type out; but here it is. I really wanted to have the fondue thing, just because I feel that Tony should totally bring it up to Cap in the movie just cause... Though I get why it wasn't in the Avengers, I mean, things were just crazy serious.**

**AND YAY! RENNER IS STILL GOING TO BE HAWKEYE (I was kind of scared for a bit there)**

**And Speaking of Hawkeye, I posted the first chapter to A Clintasha companion story... Go check it out, it's called, "I guess that's why they call it the blues' (yes, another Elton John song title. I really love that man's music.) Read it please, it's going to be very fun :D**

**Please Review, I love y'all bunches. **


	6. Chapter 5

**Ice**,_ that was all Steve saw. It was engulfing him, eating at his skin leaving only cold and a numb feeling that was all too inviting. He felt himself slipping into the ice, the cold entering his body. His heart slowed, his eyes slipping shut. **Stay awake Steve. They'll find you. Howard is smart, he can find you. Peggy is expecting you, you can't break the date.**_

_He could feel his thoughts slow, coherency dropping with the temperature. **Dammit Rogers, you can't die!**_

_The irony was almost too much; Steve wanted to go to war. He wanted to be a hero. Honestly, he never anticipated what he would do after the war. What did he have to go back to? He didn't have any family besides Bucky; and now even he was gone. This was probably the best ending he could give himself. Stopping Schmidt was the least he could do; giving Erskine peace in the afterlife._

**_Our Father, Who art in Heaven... _**_He started to pray, trying to keep himself awake. **Hollowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven...**_

Steve gasped as he awoke, tangled in the thick blanket that he used. His breathing was deep, but he almost like he was having an asthma attack. No air seemed to be getting to his lungs. He felt lost as he looked around, _momentarily_ forgetting everything that has happened since he awoke all those months ago.

He tried to calm himself in the dark silence, not trusting himself to move. He looked at the alarm clock on the side table read 4:36. _About 4 hours, that's more sleep than normal. _He smiled, half wondering when he had become so cynical about life.

He just laid there for almost an hour, knowing sleep wasn't going to come back to him. He only got out of bed when he heard footsteps from the apartment above his; knowing that he needed to get up. He took a shower and got dressed, the warmth coming back to him as the hot water made his skin glow red.

Getting himself a breakfast bar and a glass of milk, he booted up the computer that Clint had given him a few weeks back.

_"Mornin' Cap." The blond said as he entered the apartment, carrying a box that seemed rather heavy. "Got a present for you." The way the archer spoke suggested the good natured-ness of this visit._

_Steve was in the kitchen, preparing himself lunch. "It's nearly noon, Barton." He stated matter-of-factly, "What's in the box?" The sight of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents coming in and out of his apartment was being normal for Steve, though lately it only seemed to be Clint and Natasha coming._

_Clint opened the box, pulling out a bubble wrapped box-looking thing. "This is a computer. Nothing fancy, just an old one I had laying around, thought it'd be good to teach you how to use one while we're all on stand-by."_

_Steve stopped cutting the carrots he had on the cutting board and walked over to Clint. "Do you need any help?"_

_"Nah, I've got this. Should only take a few minutes, this is rather simple." Clint said, looking at Steve. "What'cha cooking, Cap? Smells good."_

_Steve tried not to look annoyed at the way Clint talked about setting up the computer. Even though he knew that the man didn't mean to make it sound like he would just be in the way, Steve was beginning to think that people thought was too dumb to be of any use. "Chicken salad. Do you want some?"_

_"Geez, Cap. What's with you and the health food? I swear, every time I see you eat it's all fruits and veggies." There was a smile on the man's face as he pulled out a block looking thing and put it on the floor by Steve's desk. "Would it kill you to eat like a few pieces of pizza?" _

_"No, it wouldn't." Steve said, going to the kitchen as a timer went off. "I just like to eat, as you say, 'healthy' food." He got the chicken out and setting it on the counter._

_"Well then Rogers, I'm taking you out sometime to get some pizza." Steve turned around to see Clint standing up, "Well, if you were serious about feeding me, I can't say no to free food." The grin on Clint's face was comical, and made the agent seem many years younger than what he was._

_The two ate, Clint asking Steve about what he planned to do. It seemed obvious to Steve that Clint wanted to say something about him not going out much, he'd heard it many times from Natasha and Fury. He knew it would help him understand things better, but it was hard. Walking around the place that he was born, grew up and seeing how it was changed. The changes were hard, but what got to Steve the most was that things that hadn't changed. The world was supposedly so much better, but all Steve saw sometimes was more suffering and pain; sometimes even more so than what he saw in his time._

_He did enjoy the company of the two agents that he fought with against Loki's army. It was interesting how to two fell into step with himself, taking it upon themselves to help him with whatever he needed help with. He sometimes wondered if Fury assigned them to help him, from what he gathered whenever he was at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters many people were, probably subconsciously, avoiding being around Barton. _

_Steve was half way through his salad, trying not wince as he saw that Clint's was nearly drenched in dressing, "So, how are you? Are you still on leave?"_

_"Yeah," Clint said after chewing." Nat is probably going back soon, but they still want me to see the counselor. Like that is helping. I'm not sure they want me back after all the shit I caused."_

_"It wasn't your fault, what Loki made you do you had no control over." Steve interjected. He hated how the man blamed himself._

_"I know, I know. That's what Nat keeps say." Clint said, putting down his fork. "But you know what? I was there. Floating beneath all that crap mind-control that Loki did. I was screaming, trying to stop. I was able to fight, some. At first. I killed so many." His voice dropped to almost a whisper, "I almost killed Nat. That's what Loki wanted me to do."_

_Steve paused, he hadn't heard that part. He knew that Natasha was the one that was able to 'cognitively reset his brain', but neither talked about how that came to be. "But you didn't, Clint. If you really were fighting, don't you think that you knew that Natasha would save you?"_

_Clint looked at his food, taking the last few bites without speaking. "Well, if you're done how about we look at the computer. It'd probably help if you knew how to use the internet."_

_Steve nodded, getting the dishes and putting them in the sink to wash later. Neither of the two men talked about anything other than the computer for the rest of the evening._

Steve booted up the computer, turning on the internet to check and see if he had any e-mails. That was one thing he found the most amazing about this future he found himself in; the fact that people could communicate almost instantly with the written word.

There were a few messages in the inbox, most of them what Clint called 'Junk mail'; but there was a message that surprised Steve. It was from Toni, which in and of itself made Steve curious. In the weeks since the attack on New York, Toni seemed to have dropped off the earth. The last time he saw her before last night was a few hours after she left the Helicarrier was when they all went out for Shawarma.

He clicked on the e-mail, surprised to see that it was sent at about 4 A.M.; he hadn't gotten to his apartment until a little after midnight and he was sure Toni left later than him.

_Hey Capsicle._

_Come to the tower at about 1 PM today. The others will be here._

_Toni_

_Genius, Playboy, Millionaire, Philanthropist, AND **Iron Man**_

Steve looked at the e-mail. It was straight to the point, and if it were from anyone else he would say that it was rude. He half wanted to reply saying he wouldn't be there; but the line under her name made him smile.

_"You're just someone's lab experiment, Rogers. All that's special about you came from a bottle."_

_"You're just a whiny child hiding behind a man in a suit of armor. Take that away, what are you?"_

_"Genius, Playboy, Millionaire, Philanthropist."_

* * *

**Hola! Thanks for reading.**

**This one was just Steve, but hey, it was long and I'll have Toni's part next. Bet you can tell what's going to happen next...**

**And I just had to put that bit from the movie in (with my little change since Toni was then not known to Cap as Iron Man). Yeah... Let me know what you think. :D**

**And I'll advert again for my Clintasha story... The next chapter for that will be up in the next few days :D**


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